Workshops

Participants in this workshop learned to work with canvas and raffia ribbon to create their own picture frames. The students actively participated and followed instructions. The students carefully cut the canvas guided by a pattern, and proceeded to sew designs on the front of the frame. They then sewed the front and back together, leaving […]

During the month of October, Cambio Creativo partner and friend, La Escuela del Ritmo, offered a series of music, art, and folkloric dance scholarships to students participating in the Jovenes Luchadores youth group. A little over 20 students were able to take advantage of these free classes, which offered some the chance to explore their […]

Music is a source of inspiration and community for the youth of Coco Solo. Andres Lombana-Bermudez visited Cambio Creativo from Bogota, Colombia to help facilitate student interest in musical rhythm and flow. Students from the group, Jovenes Luchadores, played word games and wrote short stories about Coco Solo to collectively make a song about their […]

Nicole Martin came to Coco Solo from the University of Texas at Austin to lead a week-long workshop about storytelling and food. Nicole and the kids combined their shared interests in food and creative art to make drawings, tell stories, and act out the movements of preparing, cooking and eating. The goal of the workshop was to […]

Twenty kids from Coco Solo, along with Mikey, Orlando, and some of the parents learned about the history, cultures and the importance of Portobelo. We also received a guided tour from the older students of La Escuelita. Together, we were able to visit La Iglesia de San Felipe, Fuerte San Geronimo, and Bateria Santiago. The […]

Students and visiting volunteers used Chinese paper lanterns to paint the colors of the countries participating in the World Cup, while other students painted the lanterns with the names of the Jóvenes Luchadores members. During the painting process students were asked questions about why they selected specific colors or styles. Students practiced mixing colors to […]

Andreas Orejuela led this introductory 2 days workshop titled: Nuestros vasos están llenos con los Ritmos de la Historia (Our plastic cups are full of historic rhythm). First he led basic playing of instruments with the students to see their skill levels and get a sense of where their musical interests lie. They jammed with drums, […]

Ayudarte, an international art collective focused on raising money for local charities and community-based projects, has been collaborating on a regular basis with Cambio Creativo for a number of months now. They thought a day of physical activity would be fun, because one of their members, David Bloomfield is a professional fitness trainer. They put […]

Orietta, a new artist/volunteer brought in by Ayudarte, made an amazing art project with Coco Solo youth. She brought palm tree leaves to transform them and create fish paintings. Each student got a dried palm leaf, painted and decorated them, to create their own type of fish. Each student was meticulous and created beautiful tropical […]

Amanda Gabster is the president of the Community Development Network of the Americas and a health care professional. As a non-profit organization, CDNA works with communities and local non-profit organizations that work to support health, the environment and vulnerable populations to create effective and healthy change. Projects focus on public health education, prevention and empowerment. This first of many […]

The nearby town of Portobelo has a rich Congo tradition full of art, costume and painting. The Congo tradition is a cultural practice that emerged as a performative response to enslavement in Panama. The Congos of Panama are cultural descendants of the Cimarrones, runaway enslaved Africans who fought for and won their freedom during the […]

Martin Danyluk has been a committed Cambio Creativo volunteer for the past six months, but this was his debut as a workshop facilitator. The history of Coco Solo is rich and full of meaning and consequence. The building that houses our center used to be part of a complex of US Canal Zone barracks, and […]

We are so grateful for Heather, Kyle, and James from the group Ayudarte for developing this amazing workshop. First, the youth took self-portraits and then printed them and pasted them on wood. After they carved them, they each painted and decorated their piece in their own style. The young artists learned many skills and had […]

This was a very important workshop for many reasons. Congo culture is key to area of Colon and the community of Coco Solo. Unfortunately, a lot of the youth are not so aware of the importance of the traditions, dances, rhythms, and songs of their past. After this workshop, however, it seems that most of […]

This workshop was inspired by an invitation for Cambio Creativo youth participants to exhibit a video piece at The Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts in Toronto. This event was part of Scotiabank’s Nuit Blanche Arts Festival on October 5, 2013. The theme of the exhibition was the number 13. In the workshop, the youth […]

Misha Teplitskiy arrived just in the nick of time to give a computer workshop to the students of Coco Solo! With the car packed full of new desktop computers, monitors, keyboards, and laptops, Misha, a sociology PhD students at the University of Chicago, headed to Coco Solo. Misha started by helping the Cambio Creativo team […]

This workshop was extremely important since we were able to capture photographs, drawings, stories, and ideas formulated by the youth of Coco Solo, and create our first zine. The participants enjoyed the entire process – from putting together the artwork, designing each page, printing everything in sequence, and sewing each zine. It was amazing to […]

During this workshop led by Global Brigades, the students questions how one can build a healthy community. Through discussions, drawings, and map-making exercises, the youth and the mentors exchanged ideas and found ways to mobilize their communities. This workshop touches on a very important note since soon enough the families from Coco Solo are going […]

We have been long awaiting a book binding workshop at Cambio Creativo. We were so happy to welcome Ela Spalding of Estudio Nuboso to come to our community center to lead a workshop on book binding. Carefully following instructions from Ela, the youth learned how to punch holes into the paper materials, sew the pages […]

During this very fun workshop, a group of young ladies came together to create an audio book. Throughout the process we talked about the parts of a story, like the climax and resolution, to make sure our story would be complete. Each participant proposed an idea and then we chose one to develop the story […]

During 2 weeks, Wendy James & Blake Scott, along with a wonderful group of helpers, realized a series of activities to inspire the passion for books among the youth of Coco Solo. Participants read stories in groups, had discussions, and also wrote their own stories. In addition, there was a very special visit by the […]

The workshop for this month was led by our dear colleague Jesus David Blanco. He was able to get lots of teenagers to participate in this important workshop where they all drew from their own experiences. Through different activities, the group develop various strategies by which they can become leaders withing their families and communities.

During this enthusiastic workshop, Annabel Miguelena taught the youth of Coco Solo several songs that were accompanied by dancing. Aside from being lots of fun, the youth learned about different body parts through the songs and practiced coordination of their bodies. After singing and dancing, the participants developed a character collectively (a creature named Bacechifake […]

We met Francisco at our presentation during the Book Fain in Panama City. He came up to us very enthusiastically to become more involved with Cambio Creativo. Francisco wishes to facilitate a series of workshops on math to inspire the youth of Coco Solo into realizing the magic that numbers possess. We began with a […]

This workshop was inspired by both the Taller Portobelo Congo Painting, as well as Donna Conlon’s Bottlecap Workshop. The youth revel in being given the challenge to create something beautiful out of everyday objects, especially ones that were originally intended to be trash. We first collected discarded plastic soda bottles and glued them together. The […]

There is a great need to promote literacy in Coco Solo. A lot of the youth does not go to school on a regular basis, and once they miss a subject, they move forward without looking back. This is the only explanation for why students in the fifth grade do not know how to read […]

This workshop was developed by the community itself and specifically by the youth of Coco Solo. Co-director of Cambio Creativo, Pastor Michael Brown saw a huge need to get the young adults involved in Cambio Creativo programming. What did they have a desire to participate in? Along with the young adults, Pastor Brown helped facilitate […]

Making such a beautiful mural with a group of 20+ kids through a democratic process was quite the accomplishment. First we collected large amounts of caps and separted them by color. Then we had a drawing and design session to chose the idea that the mural would represent. After several voting sessions, a house won […]

This was the first session of a series of computer skill workshops led by Glenroy James. The group of teenagers and young adults that participated feel a great need to learn and/or improve their computing skills. Glen did a great job at teaching computer basics while stimulating the self-esteem and confidence of the group.

This exciting workshop was led by Sebastian Garzon and Alejandro Guerra from the group Percuaction. It was a gratifying experience to see the youth of Coco Solo practice different rhythms in groups — ranging from 2 year old kids to teenagers. They used every part of their bodies to make different sounds and sang to […]

During an entire week, a group of Coco Solo youth visited the neighbor scientists and volunteers at Punta Galeta. It was an unforgettable journey where every day they explored a theme through observation, investigation, and creativity. It was a pleasure to see these young minds at work while they played and learned about the marine […]

In this third photography workshop we used culture as a starting point in our creative process. We spent some time brainstorming as a group to define what “culture” is, and then brainstormed about certain aspects of culture that are specific to the Coco Solo community. The youth then went out to photograph an aspect of […]

During this very important workshop, facilitators Moiz and Jake worked with some of the grown-ups in the community to talk about the importance of environmental health. Through different interactive games they came to conclusions about the biggest problems within Coco Solo and found ways to prevent them. After listing possible solutions, youth leaders Carlos and […]

The youth of Coco Solo had a great opportunity to explore their creativity alongside two talented artists from Portobelo: Gustavo Esquina and Tatu Golden. At first the facilitators allowed the participants to explore the medium of paint, mix colors, and have fun while turning “trash” into works of art. Then each participant created their own […]

This workshop was specifically requested by the community of Coco Solo as it is a matter of great importance that is sometimes not dealt with in school or family settings. Our facilitator, Tania Rodriguez, did a great job motivating the youth to explore the differences between sex and sexuality, understand the differences between AIDS and […]

What is science? This is how Maya’s workshop began; it ended with a visit to the Smithsonian Research Institute’s marine lab. Along the workshop, participants learned how to observe, form hypotheses, and investigate. But most importantly, they learned how to think critically and creatively — eternally useful skills!

During this workshop, participants explored their place in the world from a local to a global perspective. With daily activities, books, and maps, Blake engaged the youth of Coco Solo with questions and reflections on their personal histories. This led on to conversations about the history of Coco Solo and Colon, and their relation to […]

For this workshop each participant worked one on one with a mentor to chose a theme that truly matters to them. Then they discussed the possibilities of expressing these ideas and representing them through images. Each one had 5 shots and went off by themselves to shoot. Afterward they practiced editing and selecting the best […]

With countless containers, shipping cranes and natural gas storage tanks in the background, a 1200m2 plot of land with overgrown grasses rests quietly in the midst of Coco Solo. During this workshop, the community came together to transform this unused space into a productive garden. The first step was creating a compost pile and learning […]

Our second workshop was directed by Wendy James, Fulbright grantee based out of Colon. She taught the kids about the structure of a story and each participant came up with their own idea for a video. After carefully selecting one, they collectively developed the plot, characters, conflict and resolution. They then went on to determine […]

The first workshop organized by Cambio Creativo in Coco Solo (Colon, Panama) was directed by Rose Cromwell and Lorena Endara and it focused on the communication of ideas, both written and visual. The young participants realized a series of written exercises and then practiced representing their ideas visually. They shared cameras to make self-portraits and […]